San Antonio FC stole a point on the road thanks to a late goal in the final minutes, playing to a 2-2 draw against the Tampa Bay Rowdies at Al Lang Stadium on Saturday night.
Tampa Bay opened the scoring early when Cal Jennings put home a header off a set piece, beating San Antonio goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega just four minutes into the match. Tampa would take that one goal lead into the second half despite nearly scoring twice before the first half ended.
The Rowdies doubled their lead in the 72nd minute when Manuel Arteaga flicked home the ball past Sisniega to give the home side a two-goal lead.
San Antonio responded eight minutes later when Jorge “Bura” Nogueira came on as a substitution and quickly made his presence felt. Bura took the pass from Kameron Lacey and scored with a shot to the left corner of the net, beating Tampa Bay goalkeeper Jordan Farr in the 83rd minute.
Carter Manley added a late goal in second half stoppage time to secure a point for San Antonio on the road against what is sure to be an Eastern Conference contender in Tampa Bay.
“I’m proud of the guys asserting our team identity away in such a hostile environment. I felt we were relentless in our pressing actions,” SAFC Head Coach Alen Marcina said. “We dominated space with the ball, and the guys were incredibly resilient. I felt we were robbed of three points with that unfortunate disallowed goal right at the end, but all in all, very, very proud of the guys.”
Here are three key points from SAFC’s 2-2 draw with Tampa Bay:
Rebounding from the opener let down
SAFC rebounded from their season opening draw against Loudoun United FC last weekend, this time they were the ones stealing points on the road they possibly did not deserve to have.
Tampa Bay held more possession in the San Antonio half and made things difficult for the visiting side to get back into the match. However, key substitutes by Marcina led to SAFC rallying to secure the point.
“I thought it was good. It showed that we have a lot of resilience to come back from two-zero down, from away,” Manley said. “I think it showed a good mentality from the team and good performance to come back and show that we have that fight, that grit to face that adversity.”
Hernandez’s hot start
Jorge Hernandez assisted on Manley’s goal, giving him three helpers so far in the 2024 season after he got the assists on both goals a week ago, making him a key player to watch as relationships develop between him and his new teammates on the pitch.
Looking for a win
SAFC is winless in their first two matches for the first time since 2019, when they failed to record a win in their first four games of the year. However, Saturday’s come from behind result to earn a point may provide a jolt to a team returning home for two consecutive matches.
Up Next:
San Antonio FC is now 0-0-2 (2 points) on the season and will return to the pitch next Saturday when they host Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC (0-2-0) at Toyota Field at 7:30 p.m.
